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Drum's Restaurant destroyed

Drum's Restaurant in Conover was destroyed by a fire early Saturday morning.

The fire was first reported at 1:19 a.m. Saturday, and the Conover Fire Department was dispatched to the downtown Conover restaurant by 1:30 a.m. for a working fire, said Drum's owner Douglas Travis, Jr.

Travis said no one was in the building when the fire was reported. He said he had no idea how the fire started.

By noon on Saturday, nothing was left of the building except its frame. The blaze ripped through the restaurants interior, blowing out the building's windows and destroying nearly everything inside.

Travis, who started leasing the building from property owner Larry Drum about three years ago, said he was planning on buying the property soon.

"I was kind of shocked originally," Travis said. "After I actually saw it, I started thinking about my employees. We employ right at 20 people, and they are going to be the one's to really suffer without a job."

Before the fire, Travis said that business had been picking up and staying steady.